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Committee member flags anomalous median household income figure that could affect Troy grant eligibility
Summary
Select Board members flagged an apparent outlier in the American Community Survey median household income for Troy’s CDP — a 2021 spike that exactly matched Stowe’s figure — and agreed to request source data and consider hiring an independent contractor to verify the numbers before critical grant deadlines.
Committee member raised concerns about the town’s median household income (MHI) figures derived from the American Community Survey, saying the “punch line is we are in the same median household income as Stowe” and calling the exact match “statistically, just crazy.” The member presented a table showing Troy CDP’s MHI spiking in 2021 to a level that would push the village out of disadvantaged eligibility used for some grants.
The board discussed sampling and response-rate limitations of ACS data and the challenge that the available time to contest the published numbers has likely passed. “Because it’s a sample…there’s a postulating no — they’re thinking that that why it could be high,” the Committee member said, summarizing Vermont League guidance that the figure is drawn from a sample not a census. Members asked the Chair to draft a letter requesting the specific source data used and agreed to consider hiring an independent contractor (an approved contractor may be included in project costs) to re-survey or verify the MHI if necessary.
The Committee member emphasized the practical stakes: the spike could affect eligibility for disadvantaged-community grant programs and loan forgiveness tied to median-income cutoffs. The board agreed to pursue documentation from the federal source and the Vermont League, consider legal review if needed, and to report back at the next meeting.
